Affiliation:
1. Department of Health Management and Policy University of Iowa Iowa City Iowa USA
2. Department of Public Health Sciences University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte North Carolina USA
Abstract
AbstractPurposeNursing home closures have raised concerns about access to post‐acute care (PAC) and long‐term care (LTC) services. We estimate the additional distance rural residents had to travel to access PAC and LTC services because of nursing home closures.MethodsWe identify nursing home closures and the availability of PAC and LTC services in nursing homes, home health agencies, and hospitals with swing beds using the Medicare Provider of Services file (2008–2018). Using distances between ZIP codes, we summarize distances to the closest provider of PAC and LTC services for rural and urban ZIP codes with nursing home closures from 2008 to 2018 and no nursing homes in 2018.FindingsCompared to urban ZIP codes, rural ZIP codes experiencing nursing home closure had higher distances to the closest nursing home providing PAC (6.4 vs. 0.94 miles; p < 0.05) and LTC services (7.2 vs. 1.1 miles; p < 0.05), and these differences remain even after accounting for the availability of home health agencies and hospitals with swing beds. Distances to the closest providers with PAC and LTC services were even higher for rural ZIP codes with no nursing homes in 2018. About 6.1%–15.7% of rural ZIP codes with a nursing home closure or with no nursing homes had no PAC or LTC providers within 25 miles.ConclusionsNursing home closures increased distances to nursing homes, home health agencies, and hospitals with swing beds for rural residents. Access to PAC and LTC services is a concern, especially for rural areas with no nursing homes.
Funder
Federal Office of Rural Health Policy
Health Resources and Services Administration
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Reference25 articles.
1. Rural elders and long-term care
2. SuttonJP.Patterns of post‐acute utilization in rural and urban communities: home health skilled nursing and inpatient medical rehabilitation.NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis. Published 2005. Accessed April 15 2021.https://www.norc.org/content/dam/norc‐org/pdfs/WalshCtr2005_PAcuteU.pdf
3. Long-term services and supports in the community: Toward a research agenda
4. HutchisonL HawesC WilliamsL.Access to quality health services in rural areas—long‐term care: a literature review.Southwest Rural Health Research Center.2010. Published 2010. Accessed April 1 2020.https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Catherine‐Hawes/publication/251282191_Access_to_Quality_Health_Services_in_Rural_Areas‐Long‐Term_Care_A_Literature_Review/links/558d1a5d08ae1f30aa80d95d/Access‐to‐Quality‐Health‐Services‐in‐Rural‐Areas‐Long‐Term‐Care‐A‐Literature‐Review.pdf
Cited by
2 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献